RMI or Remote Method Invocation is a standart part of JSE, it''s a layer covering the basics of communication and where you call directly methods on remote objects. Example: myRemoteObject.doThis(...); where myRemoteObject is a reference to a remote object.

nio or new io is an improvement of the previous io api, which has evrything needed for low level networking. Raw and direct socket communication.

JavaSpaces fits perfectly to manage loosely coupled communication. It really acts like an independant universe on the web where you add/remove/replace objects.

these are the main ones.

I guess the JSDT api will best fit your needs if you''re looking for something like directPlay. It''s a superb api, i would even say it''s functionnability is beyond directPlay''s one, and fits perfectly for channel based managed sessions.For low level network access, raw communication, nio fits the best.